mixed bathing.
Posted by nathan on 19 Mar 2007 | Tagged as: my life., thoughts on god.
I remember when i was in late elementary or junior high, my family went to our fellowship’s campground, Oakhill. They had a three-teir swimming pool there. One time we went up to swim, and there was a tarp all across the entire fence of the pool, making it impossible to see in. I asked what that was for, and was told something like, ‘The camp rents out its facilities to other churches, and this week the church doesn’t believe in mixed bathing.’
Mixed Bathing? I thought to myself, ‘I don’t believe in bathing with girls either, so what does that have to do with a pool?’ I asked a couple of clarifying questions, and sure enough, the guys and the girls swam separately.
Now, i took a bath once a day. I knew what happened at a bath–you were naked. So this church believed in swimming naked? That is what i thought for years. I thought it was really odd.
I say this to talk about church jargon. I think there are a load of words we use in church circles which are completely misunderstood by anyone who isn’t already in ‘our circle.’
How many times do we say something which makes perfect since to us, but to an outsider is really weird and sometimes scary.
As a junior high student, i would never have gone swimming with that church–because i thought all the guys went swimming naked together. I was pretty confident in junior high, but i don’t think i would have been interested in naked swimming.
What common church terms and phrases do you hear that is crazy to an outsider?
5 Comments »
on 19 Mar 2007 at 10:59 am 1.
Carma said …
While I can’t think of any specifics off the top of my head, I have experienced that. Just changing churches and getting used to New Hope’s jargon was a shock to me. I’d attended the same church my whole life, up until this past summer. I still find myself trying to adjust to new things. I think that it does make us think, but it can also drive people away if they aren’t informed or don’t seek the information.
on 19 Mar 2007 at 11:10 am 2.
arzell said …
Lol, good story.
Let’s try the word Savior, or Salvation. I think most people have a general sense of these words but most think it as a natural, physical action. Such as a hero would save a person who is in distress. Yeah, Christian’s (and other religions) see the association between a hero and a Savior. The difference is spiritual.
Many people who would be confused by the use of these words may recognize a sense of being lost (in need of a spiritual savior), but having never had this sense defined, they cannot think beyond the physical “hero”.
maybe
on 19 Mar 2007 at 11:46 am 3.
Tara Lilily said …
I have a close friend that has moved away from the area but used to go to New Hope. I talked to her on the phone this past week and she was talking about things going on in her church, a *very* pentacostal predominantly African-American church. We once had a conversation where she was describing what goes on there and all of the traditions/rules that I am unfamiliar with, that I actually expressed concern that it was a cult. She said most things there are bibilical, or part of the black church culture and a “white” person like me or herself has to take time to fit in, but the people are loving and patient. The place sounds interesting, but I am scared out of my mind to visit because I know how I will screw up. She also kept saying something like “shamalamadingdong” and I was like “what???” She and a friend actually made up this code word for “speaking in tongues” while they are out in public because the response to hearing them talk about tongues was sometimes hostile! I do wonder about how people from outside our church feel, considering we have some ideas that are difficult for the non-believer to understand at first. However, the Bible says we are supposed to be different. Radically different, like aliens in a foreign land. So too much emphasis on keeping the environment comfortable for a non-believer in my opinion starts us down the path of seriously watering down the doctrines of our faith. What to do?? Pray, pray, pray that God will give us wisdom and discernment to walk that line. We can do it!
on 19 Mar 2007 at 12:51 pm 4.
Adam said …
I visited several churches when i did my internship in Tulsa with a “visiting eye.” I tried to analyze churches as a visitor might. That wasn’t too difficult - seeing as I WAS a visitor.
Every church has “names” for their ministries. I think that’s GREAT and even healthy. But often it left me (the visitor) thinking, “What?!” Sometimes names would be OBVIOIUS - like “New Hope Teens.” Okay obviously that’s a ministry for teens. But most of the time names of ministries would be more obscure - like “24/7.” That doesn’t tell me anything. They needed to advertise it as “24/7 The College Ministry of Victory Christian Center” or something like that. So for us, we need to do more of the same - “Quest: The informal gathering of 18-29 year olds.” ETc. etc. etc.
on 16 Apr 2008 at 9:22 pm 5.
Steve said …
My pet peeves:
“Clap Offering” - what does this mean to somebody who hasn’t grown up in the church?
“against the flesh” - the flesh is a metaphor for all kinds of self-based stuff but it never seems to get explained.
“blood of the lamb” - this gets said all the time but who the Lamb is never seems to be described or defined.
Ron Martoia’s written a great book concerning “Christianese” called “Static”.